The studio we rent recently had a new roof put on. This disrupted things for a few days but overall it wasn't too bad. Yesterday I drove into the studio parking lot and there was this palate leaning against the fence. It really caught my eye. I think the marks are from tar paper rolls. This made me think of all the hipstamatic pictures being taken of mundane things that suddenly look really great with in these funky retro looking photos. I still don't have that iphone I've been talking about getting for so long now, so I took out my slightly more expensive camera and made a picture of it. Its one of those things....is this really a picture worth looking at, or for that matter even taking and posting and writing probably far too many words about? Is it beautiful? and if its not worth taking a picture of why did it catch my eye in the first place? I admit I do seem to have my attention grabbed by the unusual. I also thought about natural 'drawing'. Things that leave an impression of themselves in some marks on surfaces. We're coming up on that time of year when leaves will start falling. Ever see what happens on concrete when a leaf lands on it and is wet so it sticks there for awhile. When it finally dries enough an leaves there is usually a really beautiful impression that looks like a rubbing or a drawing left behind. This reminded me of that. I speak with my friends all the time about how even though I'm a professional photographer getting paid to do what I do, I still think about the hobby of photography as well--that which we do for the pure joy of it--no strings attached. Thats why I take time to make pictures like this--the pure joy of making photographs of what I see. Photograph by Richard Sayer.